Apparatus for treating bituminous shale and the like



Julie 9, 1925. 1,541,135

1 J. H. GINET v APPARATUS FOR TREATING BITUMINOUS SHALE AND THE LIKE Fi ld Nov. 1, 1920 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 3 n um Ltoz I/osE HH G/NET @461 gm'cw gf W June 9, 1925.

J. H. GINET APPARATUS FOR TREATING BITUMINOUS SHALE AND THE LIKE Filed NOV. 1, 1920 -2 Sheets-Sheet 2 anvewtoz JOSEPH H Gl/YET 3&1, @Mm/ Patented June 9, I925.

JOSEPH H. GINET, 01 DENVER, COLORADO APPARATUS FOR TREATING BITUMINOUS T RE LUKE.

. Application filed November 1, 1820. Serial -.No.421,111.

Toallwhomz'tmay comm: I

Be it known that I Josnrn H. Gmn'r, a citizen of the United States, residin at Denver, in the county of Denver and tate of Colorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Treating Bituminout Shale and the like; and I do hereby declare the following-to be a full, clear, and exact description of the in-' vention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and usethesame.

This invention relates to apparatus for treatin bituminous shales, commonly known as oil s ales.

An object of this invention is to provide means for so moving the shale in a furnace or retort that every particle of shale in an given section or zone of the furnace shall be subjected to substantially the same heat at substantially the same time.

A further ob'ect of this invention is to provide in a s ale furnace' or retort improved shale agitating means adaptedto lift and shower the shale so that each particle is exposed to the heat of the retort and the entire mass of shale may be evenly heated.

A further ob'ect of this invention is to i provide in a s ale furnace or retort improved shale conveying means.

A further object of this invention is to provide in a shale furnace or retort improved means for dividing or separating the furnace into zones or sections.

A further ob'ect of this invention is to provide in a shale furnace or-retort improved combined shale conveying and agitating means.

A further object of this invention is to provide an apparatus whereby my improved process of treating shale as full disclosed andset forth in my pending app ication Serial No. 334,840, filed October 31st, 1919, ma be advantageously'carried out.

ith these and other objects in view, the

' invention consists in the construction, combination, arrangement and detail of parts as hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

Two sheets of drawings accompan this specification as part thereof, in whic like .stantial quantity of hydrocarbon reference characters denote like parts throughout. i

Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal view partly in section taken on the line 1-'-1 of 1 re 2. igure 2 is a vertical transverse section through a retort.

Figure 3 is a bottom view of the improved shovel showing the pivotal su port.

Figure 4 is a plan view of the improved shovel.

Figures 5 and 7 are detail views of two types of bottom formation for the shovel.

Figure 6 is a sectional view taken on the line 66 of Figure 5.

Bituminous shales contain organic matter which, when the shale is heated volatilizes y and passes oil? as hydrocarbon gases. Different hydrocarbon gases pass ofl at different temperatures. At the lowest temperature there will be evolved the as from which the lightest oil, such as gaso ine, etc.', may be obtained by condensation.

t successively higher temperatures there will be successively evolved the various gases from which respectively there may be obtained by. condensation successively heavier 01 s.

ess any portion of the shale be subjected to a substantially higher temperature than that at which the lightest gas still contained in the shale is evolved, fixed gases and unsaturated gases will be formed and likewise an gas evolved at the lower temperature wil y subjection to the higher temperature, he changed to fixed gas and unsaturated gas, resulting in loss in both quantity and quality of 011s.

Therefore, in recovering oilsfrom shale it is desirable to subject the shale to suecessively increasing temperatures and at each stage of the treatment to subject it to the lowest temperature at which any subas will be evolved therefrom and to hold t e shale at such temperature until there has been evolved therefrom all of the gas that can be evolved at that temperature and it is like- 7 wise evidently desirable that all of such as be drawn off, while still at substantially t at temperature, for condensation.

The uniform heatin of all of the shale in each stage or zone of t e treatment is essential and likewise the free escape of the gas as it is evolved, is essential. An uneven heatin of the shale and com elling the evolved gas to pass through tile mass 01 shale as it esca es, will result in premature condensation 0 gas and also in eokin and fluxing the shale thus losing values an rendering the shale impossible of eflicient treat ment.

The principal element of my present invention is an apparatus for treating shale in which the shale is somoved, showered, sprayed or agitated that the heat is given 'free access to each particle of shale and gas is permitted to freely escape from each particle without having to pass through the shale mass and this is accomplished while and in combination with moving large quantities of shale through the furnace or retort in which the treatment takes place.

My apparatus is more particularly described as follows:

I provide a shell 1, housing 2 spaced therefrom as at 3 and supported therein as at 4. Any suitable heating means, preferably a zone furnace as 5, may be employed for providing successively increasing heat at the various sections or zones of the shell 1. Any suitable means, as hopper 6, may be employed for feeding fresh shale into one end of the shell, the spent shale being discharged at the oposite end through any suitable discharge means, indicated at 7. A suitable vent for products of combustion from the heating means may belprovided, as indicated at 8.

At predetermined desirable points along the shell, vents, as 9, are provided for drawing oil the evolved hydro-carbon gases.

Within the shell 1 is positioned a shaft 10 extending through and suitably revolubly mounted and packed in the ends of the shell as at 11, which shaft may be revolved by any suitable means, as indicated by the crank12. Upon the shaft 10 I mount and attach in any suitable manner, as by collar 13 and set screws 14, suitable arms 1515, preferably formed integral, as shown, for carrying shovels 17 for lifting, and dropping in a loose manner or spraying or showering and advancing the shale through the retort, as will be hereinafter more particularly described.

The shovels 17 are formed with side guides 1818 extending not quite the full length of the bottom 19. At the rear end of one guide an extension 20 is hinged, as at 21, and means, such as holes 22, in the bottom of the shovel and perforated offsets 23 secured to the extension guide are provided for securing this extension guide in various angular positions, as indicated in Figure 4. Any ordinary bolt (not shown) passed through hole 22 in the bottom and perforated lug 23 will secure the extension 20,-as desired. The shovel 17 is supported by a member 24, havin downturned lugs 25, by means of which and a bolt 27 the shovel is pivotally supported to the arms 15 below and back of its center of gravity. By means of this structure, as indicated in Flgure 2, the forward edge of the shovel uniformly scrapes the lower portion of the wall of the onto the floor of the retort and that the shale,

in dropping from each shovel will be directed by the guide 20 thereon toward and more or less of it (according to the adjustment of the guide) into the path of the adjacent pair of shovels and'by arranging all of the guides 20 on the same side oftheir respective shovels. This operation will be repeated continuously and .successively by each of the various shovels, thus conveying thfi shale from one end of the retort to the ot er.

Through the operation of shovels 17 the shale is lifted from the floor of the retort and sprinkled or showered or dropped in loose manner from the back end of the shovel onto the floor of the retort again and at each operation the position of the particles of shale is changed, both in relation to each other and in relation to the fioor of the retort so that new and difl'erent portions of the shale are successively brought into contact with the floor ofthe retort.

To still more effectively shower and mix the shale, the bottom 19 of the shovel may have arts 2626' struck uptherefrom at an inc ination. thus leaving openings 26" in the bottom. Portions of the shale, in passing along the bottom 19 will, obviously drop throu h these openings so that the shale will s ower or spray down, not only from the rear end of the shovel, but at various points throughout its area. Much of the shale which does not drop through the openings 26" will encounter the u raised rtions 2626' and be retarded t ereby wli ile other portions will not be retarded. Thus a more thorough mixing of the shale passing over the shovel is accomplished.

It will thus be apparent that by the novel structure and arrangement of shovels 17 the shale is lifted, showered, mixed and advanced within and throu h the retort with substantial continuity. t. will be obvious may be rotated at considerable speed without any mechanical difliculties in the retort construction and the shale can, if desired, be kept in practically a constant state of spray or suspension within the retort. Another very im ortant advantage of the present structure is that by means of it there is no mounding of the shale upon the floor of the retort, such as is necessarily found with screw conveyors, and all the resulting difficulties due to uneven heating of the shale and obstruction to the escape of gas therefrom, produced by this mounding on the floor, are thus entirely eliminated. In so far as the shale, lies on the floor of the retort at all in cases where the speed of rotation is very slow it is found to lie in a smooth even layer as showered from the back portion of the shovels.

its one means of preventing the mixing of the gases evolved in the various zones of the furnace there may be provided partitions 28 for separating the zones, each of the partitions being provided with openings 29 for the shaft 10, the openings being just suficient in size to permit the insertion of the shaft so that the shaft will close the openin s. the partitions extend to the desired distance iromvthe loottom of the retort, leaving a space beneath the artitions sufiicient for the pasnage thereun er of the shale which is bein moved through the retort but otherwise 0 osing the retort between the zones.

the guides, etc., willreadily suggest themlt will be evident that thesev partitions will prevent the mixing of the.

selges to'the minds ofthose skilled in the at What I claim is:

1. In a retort for treating shale and the like, having a bottom, a plurality of shovels adapted to sweep successive zones of the retort, means carried by each of the shovels adapted to deflect material therefrom into the zone swept by the next adjacent shovel, u

comprising an adjustable side guide.

2. In a'retort for. treating shale and the like, means for Showering and advancing the shale through the retort comprising a plurality of shovels adapted to sweep successive and adjacent zones of the retort, each shovel com rising a bottom inclined backwardly and upwardl from its forward ed e at an angle tot e floor of the retort an havin an adjustable side guide adapted to deflect 51o material from each shovel'into the zone of the next adjacent shovel.

3.. In a retort for treating shale and the like, means for showering and advancing the shale through the retort comprising a plurality ofshovels adapted to sweep successive and adjacent zones of the retort, each shovel comprising a bottom inclined hackwardly and upwardly from its forward edge at an angle ith the floor of the retort, an adjustable si e guide adapted to deflect the material trom each shovel into the zone of the next adjacent shovel, and means for shale, a shovel having side flanges to guide the shale on the shovel, and means for advancing the shovel with its bottom at an acute angle relativeto the floor of the retort with its front edge in 11 mg contact therewith, whereby the sha e is carried u the inclination of said shovel and shower or cascaded over its back ed e to one side.

testimony whereofI a my signatum. I a j JOSEPH H. emnr. 

